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White House Reaffirms Afghan Strategy, Despite Petraeus Remarks

By Helene Cooper August 16, 2010 12:26 pmAugust 16, 2010 12:26 pm

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — President Obama remains committed to beginning a withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan next July, a White House spokesman said on Monday, playing down recent remarks by the American military commander in Afghanistan that he might recommend a delay if conditions warrant.

Doug Mills/The New York TimesEarlier on Monday, President Obama departed for his three-day, five-state trip from Andrews Air Force base.

“The date is not negotiable,” the deputy press secretary, Bill Burton, told reporters aboard Air Force One at the start of a three-day campaign-style swing around the country by the president.

Mr. Burton was referring to remarks by General David Petraeus in several interviews on Sunday in which he opposed the rapid pullout from Afghanistan, as many Democrats would like. In an interview with The New York Times, the general argued against any precipitous withdrawal of forces by July 2011, the date set by Mr. Obama to begin at least a gradual reduction of the 100,000 troops on the ground.

And in an interview with the NBC program, “Meet the Press,” General Petraeus left open the possibility that he would recommend against any withdrawal of American forces next summer. “Certainly, yes,” he said when the show’s host, David Gregory, asked him if, depending on how the war was proceeding, he might tell the president that a drawdown should be delayed. “The president and I sat down in the Oval Office , and he expressed very clearly that what he wants from me is my best professional military advice.”

Mr. Burton sought Monday to minimize any appearance of a split between the White House and the military. “There’s no daylight between the president and his commanders,” he said. He said that General Petraeus’s comments were only a small sliver of a larger interview in which he indicated that he believed the president’s Afghanistan war strategy was on track.

President Obama drew criticism on Thursday when he said, “we don’t have a strategy yet,” for military action against ISIS in Syria. Lawmakers will weigh in on Mr. Obama’s comments on the Sunday shows.Read more…